Breaking Rule Number One
by HoneyBeeez
Summary: Rules are important, guys. and when you break them, there's consequences. Hiccup can't afford to break a rule, let alone rule number one. Assassin AU! Hijack! Written for buslimpan! ah some trigger warning, but I think for the most part its okay (I don't know ratings and genres still... yeah, please read!)


**hey guys! this is something I did for buslimpan! It's Assassin AU with Hijack :D**

**Ah, trigger warnings?: mentions of crimes (murders, rapes, assaults), quick description of dead people? I don't know. **

**DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THIS IS MINE. 'KAY? KAY. PROCEED.**

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><p><strong>*ring ring*<strong>

Hiccup sighed. He knew that ring, and he knew what the person on the other end wanted. He hated this, but what could he do? His name was already out there. How could he stop them from calling? Sure, there were only close family friends who knew, or people who knew from the grapevine one way or another, but that was beside the point. He only ever wanted was to keep people safe. Not… well, he didn't like it when it turned to… revenge.

Toothless, his black cat, looked up at him from the other end with an annoyed expression on his face. Hiccup rolled his eyes and sighed again, before picking up the phone rather reluctantly.

"What do you want?" Hiccup barked, hoping either to scare the person enough to end the call or intimidate them enough for them to think they didn't want to mess with him.

"Are you Night Fury?" A slow, British accent drawled, and to Hiccup, it sounded like the slow tone was deliberate.

"What's it to you?" Hiccup scoffed back. Seriously, he hated these guys. He's been tangled into this stuff since he was 18. He didn't really think that anything could scare him.

"I have a job for you." The accent drawled again. Hiccup just waited for more details. "I'll give you ten thousand if you can get this done in three months." They continued.

_Ten grand? Who has that much money to throw around? Either they're rich, or they really hate this person_. Hiccup flinched at the thought, not wanting to think of the motives behind his caller's desires.

"I'm listening." Hiccup said, prompting them to go on.

"His name is Jack Frost. He lives in Burgess. You can find him online, if you want. White hair, blue eyes, not too hard to miss. Find him, wait it out, kill him, and hide it." The accent said, spitting out the information quickly. Hiccup pulled out a pad of paper.

_'Jack Frost. White, blue. Burgess.'_

"Hold on." Hiccup said. "Are you trying to tell me how to run my business?" He barked. "Because if you are, good luck on finding someone else who will do your work for you, you little shit."

"Who are you calling a little shit, Fury?" The accent snarled. "I could do this myself, but I have bigger issues in my way. And no, of course I would never tell you how to run your business… some people in the same office are just… a bit messy and don't understand the codes that go along with this." Hiccup nodded.

_Who else would account for all the dead, messy bodies found all over the place?_

"Fine." Hiccup said. "So, Jack Frost. White hair, blue eyes, lives in Burgess, gotta get this done in three months or no deal. Correct?" Hiccup recited back.

"Perfect." The accent snarled. "We'll be in touch."

"I need a name." Hiccup said, wrapping his other arm around his slim waist, pen still in hand. "Doesn't have to be real. I just need to know who I'm talking to."

"Pitch. You have three months."

***click***

Hiccup nearly threw the phone across the room, he was so angry. He didn't know if the accented guy indeed said '_Pitch_' or if he called him a '_bitch_.' And he never got hung-up on. Ever.

In careful writing, he wrote '_Pitch_' on the paper with Jack's—on his victim's information on it.

_No, don't get attached, don't think of them as people, you have a job to do, obligation is everything. You need the money…_

"Well, Toothless…" Hiccup said, sighing. The abnormally smart cat look at him, green eyes wide and attentive. "I got myself another job to do." The cat just rolled his eyes at him.

* * *

><p>Two days later, Hiccup had a general idea on where Jack was or where he usually hung out anyways, after a lot of asking around. The auburn-haired assassin hid behind a pair of thick-framed glasses and a slightly-nerdy outfit. His earbuds were pushed securely into his ears, a song from Panic! At the Disco playing at near-full-blast. It was just a ploy, a reason to get into everyone's heads. Everyone will be suspicious of a guy dressed in black with sunglasses and a gun in his pocket. No one would suspect that a nerdy-looking guy would be up to some serious business. Besides, Hiccup liked this style better.<p>

To his distress, Hiccup found that Jack's usual haunt was a child's daycare. He nearly groaned. From what he gathered so far, this guy was completely innocent! Did Pitch just have this grudge on this guy?

_No, don't think like that. This is not a person, it is your target…_

He hated this.

The daycare had a cheery sign. "_The Guardians_" it read, in silver letters. There was an Easter egg, a fairy, a Christmas tree, and a golden cloud painted under the logo in bright colors. Hiccup took a deep breath, and, hoping he looked like a good citizen, he walked to the nearest crosswalk and crossed the street.

The car was there, in front of the daycare. The one everyone described Jack having: a beat-up white old-looking car. He took a deep breath as he walked up the street and to the daycare…

When the door to the daycare flung open, and hit Hiccup in the face.

"OW!"

"Oh my god! I am so sorry! Are you okay?" Someone said, grabbing his shoulder instinctively to keep him from falling. Hiccup ripped the earbuds out of his ears in one motion, letting them fall over his shoulders so he wouldn't lose them.

"I'm fine. I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and-" Hiccup said, intentionally rambling. A deep, yet short-lived, laugh broke him out of his rehearsed ramble.

"Dude, its fine." A voice said. Hiccup looked up, and blue eyes greeted him in return, framed by a pale face and even paler hair. Hiccup nearly screamed in relief. He found him. The look on Hiccup's face must have been priceless, because Jack laughed. "You sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Fine." Hiccup said quickly, rubbing his nose and wiping off the stupid look he most likely had on his face.

"I'm really sorry about that." Jack said, looking at the door like it offended him or something. "How about I make it up to you?"

"No, no, that's fine," Hiccup said, shaking his head. "You really don't have to…"

"Come on, let me take you somewhere." Jack said. "My treat. No strings attached or anything." Hiccup gave him a skeptical look.

"You… you really don't have to." Hiccup said, losing the look as he glanced down at his feet. Then he peering a little upwards at Jack over his glasses.

_Reverse psychology had to work with him, right? _

The white-haired male just smiled at him, looking on the verge of laughter. "Yeah, I do. It's the least I could do since I attacked you with a door." Jack said. "Think of this as… emotional compensation." Jack chuckled at that, and Hiccup just smiled quickly before he sighed.

"Okay then. Sure." Hiccup said, fixing his glasses and winding up his earbuds around his phone before shoving it in his back pocket. Hiccup was just glad that this guy could be almost-easily manipulated. Now all he needed to do was pick his words carefully.

"Great!" Jack said. "Oh, by the way…" he said, sticking a hand out in Hiccup's direction. "I'm Jack." Hiccup took his hand without hesitation.

"Hiccup." He replied.

"Hiccup? Huh. Funny." Jack said, shaking is hand and letting it go as he started to walk. Hiccup followed a couple steps behind him, mostly because he had no idea where they were going, and because he wanted to observe him a bit. "This isn't a date, just so you know." Jack said, smiling at him as he looked over his shoulder.

"Oookay. Whatever you say." Hiccup mused, rolling his eyes slowly to make sure that Jack caught his drift. Jack just scoffed at him, making a face that looked a bit like a sneer before laughing and rambling off about something pointless and that Hiccup blocked out completely.

This guy was so nice! Why would anyone like Pitch want him dead? Jack didn't look like he could hurt a fly! Something didn't seem right, but _no, Hiccup, don't think morals, think death, this isn't a person, this is a target_… Why did he keep forgetting that? He had no problem with it before! Something felt off about all this. Hiccup didn't like it.

"…looks like you're going to pop a blood vessel… are you okay?" Jack said, waving a hand in his face. "Hello?" Jack called. Hiccup blinked, feeling like he just got awoken by some weird dream.

"Oh, what?" He asked. "Sorry. I… I must have spaced out or something. What were you saying?"

"Nothing…" Jack said, laughing under his breath. "We're here." He said, gesturing to a coffee shop. "Have you been here before?" He asked, holding the door open for him as Hiccup stepped inside the little shop.

"Never…" Hiccup answered, blinking from behind his glasses.

The coffee shop was like nothing he's ever seen before. The lighting was low, but enough light filtered in through the large windows so that people could read, to work, or just about do anything else without falling asleep. The ambiance was nice, and it had a homey feel to it. Bookshelves lined one wall, while a small TV was on the other, the last wall was plastered with either artwork or promotional posters. The forth wall was short, and that corner was dedicated to the baristas, who looked at Hiccup and Jack with expectant eyes. They were, surprisingly, the only ones in there.

"Come on." Jack said, grabbing his wrist and tugging him over. "Check it out, and see which one you want." He said, pointing to the menu over register. Hiccup looked, and Jack just looked back at the barista. "Hey Baby Tooth. I'll have the regular." He said with a smile.

"Oh, Jack…" The girl behind the register said, leaning over the counter and resting her chin on her hands. "Your smile is as good as ever. You know if you keep on drinking coffee, you'll just stain your teeth."

"Baby Tooth…" A severe voice said. "Stay focused…"

"Right, sorry, ma'am." Baby Tooth said, standing straight up again. "So… one white chocolate iced coffee and… you, sir?" She asked, looking at Hiccup.

"Oh… well, I'll just have a peppermint mocha." Hiccup said. He wasn't even paying attention to the list of beverages and prices overhead. No, he listened to their conversation carefully. _Maybe Pitch wanted this guy gone because he loved Baby Tooth?_ It was obvious she was smitten with the white-haired male.

"Alright!" Baby Tooth said, smiling. Jack handed her a twenty, and she handed him his change. "I'll call you when it's ready!" She said. Jack nodded, and then pulled Hiccup over to one of the booths by the large windows. They were in plain view of everyone, and Hiccup would rather have that anyways.

"Uh…" Hiccup said, pushing his glasses farther up on his nose. "Thanks for this. This place isn't half bad." He said, in what he hoped was an awkward attempt at conversation.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Jack said, stretching out. "This place helped me clear my head and study when I was in high school, so it means a lot to me."

"And how long ago was that, exactly?" Hiccup asked, leaning forward, and acting like he was just adjusting himself in his seat. Jack had to laugh.

"Geez, Hiccup, I told you this wasn't a date!" Jack joked.

"I know this isn't a date." Hiccup said, allowing himself a small smile. "I just want to know how old you are." Rephrase: how long have you been able to bug the crap out of someone so much that they want to kill you?

"That's code for: 'I want to see if our sex is legal' if I've ever heard it in my life." Jack said, still laughing. Hiccup choked, sputtering and coughing loud enough that he was sure Baby Tooth and the other barista was looking right at him. Jack just laughed so hard that he couldn't see because his eyes were closed shut.

"Whoa, what?" Hiccup asked after he was done with his fit. "Dude, I've barely met you. What would make you think that?!"

"Well, you'd be surprised." Jack said, sitting back with an '_I-don't-care-what-you-say_' flair. "It wouldn't be the first time I was picked up like this." There was a pause. "But that's a story for a different time. Plus, I can tell you're different."

"Yeah?" Hiccup asked. "What's so different about me?"

"You aren't from here." Jack said. Hiccup opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water before Jack continued. "Everyone from here knows this coffee shop. It's the only one we have. Also… I've never seen you around before, and I've been here my whole life. It's a small town, you know?"

"No, apparently, I don't know." Hiccup said, rolling his eyes. "But thank you for pointing out the obvious."

"Well, someone's a bit snarky." Baby Tooth said, waltzing over and holding two cups, one in each hand. "Sorry boys, I tried calling you over, but you seemed too into your conversation to be bothered."

"Thanks, Baby Tooth." Jack said with a smile, taking the drinks and handing the peppermint mocha to Hiccup. Their fingertips brushed and Hiccup denied the generic electricity that flowed through the touch.

"Thanks." Hiccup said quietly, already taking a sip of the coffee.

"You've got a keeper, there, Jack." He heard Baby Tooth say lowly as she walked away. He choked again, this time on the little amount of coffee he had in his throat. Jack rolled his eyes and slipped from the opposite side of Hiccup to right next to him, patting his back to help him recover… well, he was more or less slapping him, but eh, he had good intentions anyways.

"What did she mean by that?" Hiccup said. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see when he looked up, but he sure didn't expect to see Jack sitting right next to him, looking at him with this sort of concerned yet amused expression as he took a sip of his iced coffee.

"Baby Tooth has a way of twisting words around." Jack said with an upturn of his lips. "I told her one time that the person I brought here was my boyfriend, and now every time I bring someone over, she automatically assumes…"

"That you're on a date." Hiccup finished, nodding. "Well, that's definitely interesting… and slightly annoying, whichever way you put it." Jack laughed, and Hiccup took that opportunity to slide a little bit away from him, closer to the window.

"Definitely the annoying part." Jack said, drinking more of his coffee. "But she's like a sister to me, so that's expected, you know?"

"I can hear you talking about me, you know?!" Baby Tooth yelled from the counter.

"Sorry, we'll change the subject!" Jack called back. Hiccup snorted. "So, lovely weather we're having, isn't it?" He asked in the most sophisticated voice possible. Hiccup allowed himself to laugh a little.

"I am not having the 'weather talk.'" Hiccup said, shaking his head. Well, he got one thing out of the conversation: Jack had a boyfriend before. That means he is either gay, or bi. _Some people were extremely harsh to people who identify as anything other than heterosexual. Could this be the reason that Pitch wanted him dead? He definitely sounded like he could be one of those people_…

But no, he wasn't here to find out why Pitch wanted to kill him. He just needed to get the job done, no matter how immoral it may be.

"Question." Hiccup said, sitting up a little in his seat and talking another sip of the hot coffee in his hands before setting the cup down onto the table.

"Shoot." Jack said.

"You said 'boyfriend'…" Hiccup said, cautiously. "Are you gay?"

"Well, give the boy a prize!" Jack said in a cheerful voice, smiling and ruffling his hair. He barked out a short laugh before settling down. "Yeah, I am. Good thing this isn't a date." He said.

"How many times are you going to say that?" Hiccup asked, looking at him weirdly. Either this was some sick, twisted kind of reverse phycology, or Jack had short memory loss.

"Because it's not." Jack said, shrugging. Hiccup sighed inwardly. He would take the bait Jack was offering, if it was the phycology thing, and it wasn't, well, it would be good enough.

"Well, what if I wanted it to be a date?" Hiccup asked, raising his eyebrows at Jack. There. He said it. Way to keep the façade alive. Well, at least this would be a good excuse on getting to know his victim, getting them to trust him until he was ready to finish the job.

"Then I would say that there was nothing stopping you." Jack said, smiling. Hiccup could only smile back.

_'What the fuck did I just do…?'_

* * *

><p>After they finished their coffee, they left a tip for Baby Tooth and walked out. They talked about random things, like, really random. But it had a different feel to it, which was totally okay in Hiccup's retrospect… except for the fact that he forgot he was doing his job, the thing he was going to get paid for, and not hanging out with someone he was romantically attracted to…<p>

_Wait, what?_

Okay, yeah, no. This is business, he had to do this. Focus, Hiccup!

After it got pretty dark out, they switched numbers and called it a day… but not before Jack enveloped Hiccup into a hug and pressed a kiss onto his forehead. '_Geez, what a sap…_' Hiccup thought, allowing himself to play the part of a love-sick fool and smile dopily. They left, and Hiccup wandered all the way back to his apartment. He collapsed onto his couch when he threw the door open (and locked it for good riddance). Toothless wandered over and crawled onto his lap. Hiccup absentmindedly petted him.

This just didn't make sense. Hiccup was usually the best at reading people, whether that be body language or facial expressions. He was even the best at picking out double meanings of what people said! He could read people's intentions like they were a book ripped open by the wind. But… Jack seemed like a nice guy. He was totally sincere, from what Hiccup saw, and he was honest and kind, and Hiccup believed that he really didn't have a malicious bone in his body.

So why did Pitch want to kill him off? Why all this violence towards a nice guy who looked like he could win the "Nicest Guy in the World" award? Hiccup didn't understand. All his other victims hand something wrong with them… one shot a friend of theirs for no reason, one kidnapped their little girl for three days and was never caught… one even raped a girl in an alleyway but couldn't be convicted in court because there wasn't enough "evidence!" Those were all perfectly good reasons to want someone dead, and hey, as long as they deserved it and Hiccup had the means (and if he was getting paid), he would do it.

He started doing this because of two reasons, and one of those reasons was that bad people should be punished. He knew that, and he knew that the law and the government or whatever the hell you wanted to blame it on, he knew that they simply wouldn't get the job done. Someone had to do it.

And that's where Hiccup stepped into play.

"What am I going to do, bud?" Hiccup sighed. Toothless just meowed, without offering any advice to his owner. Hiccup groaned, hitting his head on the back of his couch. Just then, his phone rang.

_Jack_.

"You miss me already?" Hiccup asked as he answered the call. Jack laughed at the other end.

"Of course!" He answered. "Why else would I call you?"

"Maybe you wanted to borrow some money?" Hiccup asked.

"Not a chance. I'm not that kind of guy." Jack said. "But… I wanted to ask you a really huge favor, and even though it's early in our relationship, if you help me out I swear I will love you forever." He was talking as if he only had a couple seconds left before all the oxygen was going to be sucked out of the atmosphere, and Hiccup had to chuckle.

"You'll love me forever? Well, can't pass that opportunity up." _Well, he could_… "What's up?"

"I… work at this daycare, the one whose door I hit you in the face with? Yeah…" Jack said. "Turns out that one of my friends who runs the place had to go to the hospital right now."

"Ouch. Are they okay?" Hiccup asked.

"Fine, I think." Jack said. "I don't know the whole story yet, but… would you mind covering for her tomorrow? I know its short notice, and I don't even know if you're good with kids, but we'll be hanging out again, but just working this time so I thought that it would be okay-"

"Sure." Hiccup said, making sure to smile so that the tone in his voice sounded real. "I mean, that sucks, and of course I'll help you out."

"Oh my god, Hiccup, thank you, you're a lifesaver." Jack said, sighing. "Do you remember the place?" He asked.

"I'll find my way there." Hiccup said, shrugging.

"Oookay~ but if you get lost, you should call me, okay?" Jack said.

"Will do." Hiccup said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye."

Hiccup hung up the phone and tossed it away from him. Well, this was going to be interesting…

_Do assassins and little children mix well? _

* * *

><p>Hiccup was practically shaking like a leaf when he went up to the day care door the next morning. Sure, it was a little cold outside, and he could pass it off that he was shivering from the cold, but that would be a lie. Weren't kids supposed to be awesome judges of character or something? Like… like dogs? What if they figured out there was something bad about him? What if they told Jack? Wouldn't this whole thing be shot down like a sniper on a mission?<p>

Damn, why did he agree to be here?

"Hiccup!" Jack called, climbing out of his car and running up to him. He hugged him, and Hiccup almost clung to him because of the fleeting warmth he had. "Glad you found it." Jack said, smiling.

"How could I forget?" Hiccup said, gesturing around. "The logo is pretty interesting." He said, pointing at the colorful designs on the huge window up front. "Who made it?"

"Me and my friend who had to go to the hospital." Jack said casually. "We thought it needed a bit more life, so… ta-da!" He said, gesturing at the window. Hiccup had to crack a smile at the movement; it was too cartoony. Jack pulled out a set of keys and flipped through a couple until he let out a little "ah!" He plucked the right key out of the bunch and unlocked the door of the daycare. He pushed it open. "After you, good sir." Jack said, bowing.

"Why, thank you, milady." Hiccup said, smiling as he walked in through the door. _What the hell was that?! Milady?! What possessed him so that came out of his mouth?_ Hiccup nearly slapped himself in the forehead for it. Good thing Jack only laughed about it.

"What manners…" Jack said under his breath. Then he flipped a switch near the door. "Well, here it is." He said, gesturing around to the place.

It was basically a huge, open room. There was a desk with a dated computer and some little gates that could easily be hopped over by someone tall enough, but for the children, they would be more like inescapable walls. There were a couple doors off to the side, and Hiccup could only guess that they were bathrooms, though he would find out later. There was a TV mounted onto a wall, and there were a couple DVDs strewn around that probably went along with it. There was also a jungle gym… obstacle thing that Hiccup only remembered seeing in a Chuck E. Cheese's or something to that extent. But for the most part, the room was wide open and very…very colorful.

"Wow." Hiccup said. "And you work here… every day?" Hiccup asked, forgetting himself. He asked around beforehand, and this was no coincidence that Hiccup found him here. People said that he was here nearly all day, every day, without complaint and always with a smile on his face. Hiccup couldn't believe it. Apparently, neither could Jack, because he blinked and looked at Hiccup curiously.

"Not every day." Jack protested. "I just come in sometimes because they need help settling the kids down. Come on, we need to get things ready before the parents start dropping their kids off." Hiccup just nodded.

There was a lot of work involved, but it was actually sort of nice, since Jack was lax about mostly everything and showed him how do to most things….

_Whoa, what? No, wait. Don't think, Hiccup. He's not someone you want to get close to. You'll only hurt yourself more. _

"Why did your friend have to go to the hospital?" Hiccup asked, trying his hardest to get his mind off the stupid train of thought it was previously on… and to kill the semi-silence of the place. Jack looked at him, his head tilted to the side slightly, before smiling a little.

"She tore some muscle in her leg or something. I didn't really get all the details…" Jack said, with something a little more than a fond smile on his lips.

"Whoa, sounds serious." Hiccup said, walking back to the wide open space and cleaning up a bit there. Jack was right behind him. "What happened?"

"I don't think it matters for Tooth." Jack said, chuckling. "She's so excitable that she could have torn them just by walking somewhere."

"Tooth?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jack asked, turning around and looking at him.

"My cat's named Toothless." Hiccup answered. "Just a coincidence." Jack laughed.

"Small world…" He said, still laughing. "Hey, you know what time it is?" He asked unnecessarily before whipping out his phone and checking the time. "Shoot. It's seven. You mind flipping the sign?" Jack asked. Hiccup shrugged.

"Not at all." Hiccup said. He hopped over the child-proof gate and flipped the Closed sign to Open. "So, how many of these little monsters do we have to watch today?" Hiccup asked, hopping back over as Jack went around to the desk and to the computer. Jack sent him a little glare as he turned the dinosaur on. "I'm kidding," Hiccup said, holding his hands up, "I meant kids."

"Hmph, you better be kidding. They aren't monsters!" Jack said. "And we usually have about seven to eight kids, depending on the day and stuff." Hiccup just nodded.

More or less, it was a looong day in the daycare. The kids weren't too bad, but they really didn't know the concept of personal boundaries yet. It was a madhouse, but Hiccup actually enjoyed it. It reminded him when he was a kid, when he didn't have to worry about all of this…

But when the kid's parents came back, and the kids were gone, the place was exceptionally  
>silent and it almost made Hiccup uncomfortable. He helped Jack put all the toys they could in bleach and clean up the general area as much as they could.<p>

"You were really good!" Jack praised. "Have you worked with kids before?" Hiccup shook his head, dislodging his faux glasses a bit. Jack smiled and fixed them, getting closer than he needed be. Hiccup stiffened, but he hoped that Jack didn't see. He forced himself to be more lax. "It was really amazing. You need a job?" Jack asked, quietly. "I could get North to hire you…"

"I think I'd like that." Hiccup replied, his stomach twisting in knots from something he didn't even know. "But even if I don't get hired, I'll still come and help you guys out sometimes." Jack's smile was infectious, and there was no way that Hiccup had the cure for it.

"Sounds like a plan…" Jack said, his words trailing off as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss onto Hiccup's lips.

_Well, okay, technically kissing on the second date. Was that too early? God, what should he do right now?! He had to kiss back right?_ Awkwardly (at least in Hiccup's mind) he moved his lips against Jack's. I guess he did something right, because Jack angled his head a bit more and placed his hand on Hiccup's side. Not knowing what the hell to do with his hands, Hiccup reached up and wrapped his arms around Jack's neck.

God, how was he supposed to kill him when he was capable of kissing him like this?

* * *

><p>Hiccup's time was almost running out. And he was very, very conflicted.<p>

Not only have he and Jack been going out since, but they've only gotten closer. North actually did give him that job, and Hiccup readily accepted it. Almost every day, the two would go into the daycare and work with the kids, and help out what whatever Aster, Sandy, Tooth or North needed that day (he also met them and they were all good friends by now). Hiccup's been to Jack's place many times, sometimes to hang out and watch movies, one time to spend the night, and other times they were doing things a little more unchaste, but they never went all the way.

Hiccup had gotten himself attached to his victim. The number one thing not to do while in his profession. (Could you even call it a profession?)

He was screwed. He needed that money! He needed it desperately, and the little paycheck he got from the daycare seemed irrelevant to him. That wasn't enough. He had to kill Jack. But… how could he?

That was the point. He couldn't. Not anymore. Jack did the thing that everyone else in his life failed to do: break down his walls and made him feel.

How could he kill the person who actually gave him a chance?

* * *

><p>"Hey Hiccup." Jack asked, looking across the room to look at him.<p>

"Yeah?" He responded, looking up from a book he was glancing over.

"You never told me anything about your parents." Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, well… you didn't tell me anything about your parents." Hiccup said, snapping the book shut and placing it back on the shelf again. He was trying to quickly get off the subject before Jack revealed the only thing he didn't want him knowing.

_Don't open this can of worms, Jack, they'll eat you alive_…

"You never asked." Jack replied easily. "And if you're defensive about it, something must have happened. You know you can tell me, right?" Hiccup's shoulders hunched as he sighed. Jack just waited patiently.

"Yeah, I know." Hiccup responded.

"Wanna tell me?" Jack asked, patting the space next to him on the couch that he was sitting on. Hiccup walked over and sat down. Jack waited again. Hiccup looked up at him with an 'are you sure?' expression, and when Jack smiled softly, Hiccup sighed.

"My mother died before I had the chance to really get to know her." Hiccup said. "From what my dad says, she was a really nice lady… but he doesn't know where she's off to… and he…" Hiccup said, but his voice broke as he felt the goddamn tears build up in his tear ducts. They burned, and he rubbed at them impatiently. "My dad, he's… in the hospital."

"What?" Jack breathed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"There… there was this hit-and-run… he's been in there for two years now, and he's in pretty bad shape." Hiccup said, taking a breath and sniffing loudly. "He's… he's stubborn, and no matter how many times the doctor's tell me to pull the plug, to give up, to let him go!- I just… I know that he wouldn't want me to give up on him. That's why I started…"

_NO. STOP. WARNING. CROSSING INTO DANGEROUS TERRITORY. ABORT MISSION NOW. _

"Started what?" Jack asked, wrapping an arm around Hiccup's shoulders and pulling him close. Hiccup shook his head in protest, the tears spilling out of his eyes as he scrunched them up tight, but he didn't have the energy to pull away from Jack's half-hug.

"Nothing… nothing…" Hiccup said, his voice shaking and breaking and collapsing all at once.

"It's alright… it's allllright." Jack soothed, much like he did with the kids at the daycare who got slightly injured.

"No…" Hiccup said. He wasn't capable of accepting Jack's care, his attention. That tone in his voice made him so sick… but not of Jack. He loved Jack. That stabbed him like a knife. That's why he had to get out of here, he had to get away…

He had to tell Pitch that he could keep his money, because there was no way he was killing Jack.

Hiccup got up, letting Jack's arm fall onto the couch. He couldn't look at him, and he didn't see the worried, confused, and caring expression Jack had on his face.

"I… I have to go…" Hiccup said, the tears running down his face and burning him worse than any fire, and he flung the door open, ducking out and practically running away.

* * *

><p>Jack didn't know about this. Maybe all Hiccup needed was time. He knew about that kind of stuff. He remembered when he lost his own parents, when his little sister was ripped away from him, taken and named a ward of the state. Jack sighed and wrapped his arms around himself. Hiccup must be taking it hard. It was one thing to be told that your parents were dead, but it was another thing entirely to make that decision on letting them go. Sometimes these things took time, but sometimes, Jack knew, you needed others to help you.<p>

He came to this conclusion about a minute after Hiccup ran off, and he knew that could still catch up to him. Hiccup never brought Jack him over to his place before, which was a bit upsetting, but Jack gave him the benefit of the doubt. If he left now, he could find him and, as creepy as this sounds, follow him back to make sure he was okay.

Jack was out of his seat in a flash, stuffing his keys in his back pocket. He flipped the lock on his doorknob and slammed it shut as he darted out, running and scanning erratically to find Hiccup.

_There_. Down the street, a head of messy auburn hair weaved through the little amount of people that crowded the streets of Burgess. Jack was off running in no time, following him. Before long, they were outside the city lines of Burgess. Jack's sides seemed like they were going to split open, and it was like air itself was igniting his lungs. The back of his throat flared up with every breath, but he knew Hiccup must have been feeling worse. Crying and running? Crazy…

Jack wondered how far away Hiccup lived, but he kept running. He was almost shocked to see Hiccup dart into a shady-looking apartment building. Jack blinked a second, before following. He couldn't Hiccup isolate himself. He needed to know that he wasn't alone, that Jack was there for him to help with anything he needed.

He went up to the front desk.

"Excuse me…" He asked, looking at the man sitting there. "Could you tell me where Hiccup lives? Hiccup Haddock." Jack was glad that he coaxed his last name out of him previously, otherwise this would have just been plain embarrassing.

"Ah, yeah. 32C. Third floor." He said. "He just ran in."

"Thanks." Jack said, resisting to tell him '_yeah I know_.'

_Goddammit. Stairs_.

He didn't want to talk the elevator, so up up up the stairs he went.

He got to the third floor by some miraculous feat of strength or something, because all he wanted to do was collapsed on the floor and sleep. Or throw up. Or just be. But no, he walked down the hallway, looking at every door and tracking down 32C. When he found it, the door was cracked. A voice flowed through the crack, and Jack immediately recognized it was Hiccup's.

"No… Not really… CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME TALK?!... No! I'm not doing this anymore, Pitch! Keep your money! I don't care! Why? Why?! I'm in love with Jack! I'm not going to kill him!"

Jack didn't want to believe that it was Hiccup's voice he was hearing anymore.

* * *

><p>"You can't just back out of something like this!" Pitch roared, and Hiccup knew that if he was a foot away from his phone, he could still hear his angry voice on the other end. "We made a deal!"<p>

"Well, the deal's off!" Hiccup yelled back. "I can't do this anymore!" And with that, he hung up on a very angry Pitch and threw his phone at the wall. It clattered to the ground and Toothless looked at him like he was crazy. "Sorry bud…" He said. He couldn't stay in that little apartment any longer. He turned on his heel, wrenching the door open, and walking out. We walked over to the wall and banged his fists on it. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He yelled.

"H-Hiccup…?" A voice stuttered, and Hiccup turned immediately, his eyes wide. Jack stood there, looking winded, but the hurt in his eyes was evident, and so was the path of tears running down his cheeks.

"Jack." Hiccup said, taking a step closer. _Did he hear? Did he hear anything!?_ Jack took a step back and Hiccup's fear was confirmed. "Jack, please give me a chance to explain…" He begged.

"So all this time…" Jack said, his voice as watery as his eyes. "All this time you were planning the perfect time to kill me? I thought… I really thought that…"

"Jack… Jack, no, please don't think that." Hiccup said. "It… it might have started out like that, but now! Now it's different! I love you!" He walked closer, reaching out to grab Jack's hands and pull him close, but Jack stumbled back a couple more steps.

"But that's how it started out." Jack said, shaking his head. "How many other people did you trick, did you lie to?!" There was panic in his voice, Hiccup knew, and it made his heart ache.

"None!" Hiccup said. "Not like this! Look, could you… could you please just hear me out? Please…" Jack just stood there, his eyes still as wide as dinner plates, his nostrils flaring, and it was only then did Hiccup realize that he probably followed him here on foot. He took the silence as an '_okay_' to talk, and so he took a deep breath.

"When my dad got hit and he was admitted into the hospital, I was basically left with nothing. I didn't know what to do, or what to think. And then my friend, Astrid, started getting abused by her boyfriend. She wanted to break it off, but he turned ugly. I didn't mean to kill him, honest! I was trying to get him to leave her alone, but he got violent. I punched him in the nose too hard, and… I freaked out. I didn't mean to." Hiccup stopped, and took in a shaky breath. "Ever since, I figured I could have people pay me to get rid of those types of bad people in their lives-"

"The logical thing to do would be, I don't know, going to the police with those types of things!" Jack argued.

"Do you know how hard that is?" Hiccup asked. "Really? Do you? The sentencing takes too long anyways. And everything is so messed up that they would just get out again and hurt them again! I knew it was wrong! I hated doing it! But… the hospital bills were coming in and if I didn't pay them, then…" Hiccup looked up, and looked Jack in the eyes. "But I couldn't hurt you. I don't want to. I don't want to do anything like this again."

"Then don't." Jack said. Hiccup blinked, sniffing.

"But…"

"You're not alone, Hiccup." Jack said. "Don't you dare think for a second that you have to do this alone anymore!" He paused, taking a breath. "Sure, I might not even know who you are anymore, and I'm just a little bit scared, but you're not alone. You're not." That was a lie: Jack was a hell of a lot scared, but he guessed he was doing pretty damn well at not showing it.

"Can… can we start over?" Hiccup said.

"Do I have to smash you're face into a door again?" Jack asked, his voice shaking but he was trying to control it. "Because in that case, I don't wanna."

They both smiled.

* * *

><p>Sure, there were bumps in the road, and Hiccup's phone still rang from time to time, but that was when Jack answered and told them that they had the wrong number. It took a while for everything to be completely erased form both their minds, even though there was about a million questions that floated in their minds. They talked about them, sure, with a whole lot of insecurity and tears and forgiveness thrown into the process, of course. Their relationship was patched up slowly, and sometimes it felt like they were starting over for real. Hiccup never had a complaint.<p>

Hiccup was just glad he had someone to talk to, really talk to, for the first time in forever.

It was painful to go through, but Hiccup's dad couldn't hold on anymore. But when he died, Hiccup wasn't there alone. Jack, Aster, Sandy, North and Tooth was right there with him. And, unlike all the empty promises of 'I'll be here for you if you need anything's that he heard at his father's funerals, they were the ones that supported him and encouraged him to get back on his feet.

Toothless took an unexpected liking towards Jack, which made Hiccup happy. After all, who would be happy to see their two favorite people get along?

The children at the daycare were as always, laughing and full of energy and life. Hiccup loved working there. He wouldn't change it for the world.

"Jack?" Hiccup asked one day as they lounged his couch, watching TV. Toothless was tucked onto Jack's thigh and the white-haired male was petting him.

"Hmm?" Jack asked, looking over.

"Did you even know Pitch?" Hiccup asked. "Who was he to you?"

"Well, yeah I knew him." Jack said, laughing a little. "Why else would he want me dead?"

"What did you do?" Hiccup asked, shooting him a look.

"I took him to get some coffee, and the next day he tried getting in my pants." Jack said. "I broke it off with him right after I punched him in the face. But I guess he never forgot." He said nonchalantly, adding a shrug for emphasis.

"Wow." Hiccup said, blinking. "Want me to kill him?" He joked.

"No." Jack said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Because knowing you, you would."

* * *

><p><strong>well, I hope you liked it! (wow, this took forever to write! Sorry!)<strong>

**Please review! Thanks!**

**Love ya!**

**-HB**


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